Historical Landslide Fatalities in British Columbia, Canada: Trends and Implications for Risk Management

Abstract

According to a Canadian government database, landslides are the most common type of disaster that occurs in the province of British Columbia. Recently there has been a trend in British Columbia toward using quantitative risk assessments to estimate life-loss risk at landslide hazard sites, and to compare these estimates with risk tolerance thresholds to determine the necessity for, and extent of, risk management measures. These risk estimates are most often calibrated by so-called ‘expert judgment’ because historical landslide fatality data are not readily available. This article addresses this gap by summarizing available historical data to better inform expert judgment. It shows that fatalities caused by landslides in British Columbia are rare (approximately one fatality per year in the last decade) and have decreased with time despite rapid population growth. Approximately half of these fatalities in the last decade are related to debris flows and debris floods that impact houses, whereas the other half are related to rockfalls, debris flows, and debris floods that impact highways. A comparison with other hazard types in the Canadian government’s disaster database suggests that, while not particularly deadly, landslides are still important because of the economic damage and service disruptions they cause. Although the data are specific to British Columbia, the methods for identifying and presenting landslide risk trends could be modified and adopted in other world regions where landslide fatality data are collected and quantitative risk management methods are utilized.